Sweet Revenge
by Marauding Mara
Summary: Complete! MWPP-era: In Deathly Hallows we learned that Mulciber did something evil to Mary MacDonald which really pissed Lily off. But what exactly happened? And how did it affect her and the others? S/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note****: **From the chapter _The Prince's Tale_ in _Deathly Hallows_, we learned that in fifth year, Mulciber did something to Mary MacDonald that really pissed Lily off. But what exactly did he do? And how did it affect Lily and her classmates? Well, you're about to find out!

**P.S.** Since I've been writing about a character called Mary Woods one year _before_ the release of _Deathly Hallows_, I kept that character in (and consequently, left MacDonald out, haha).

**Sweet Revenge (Part O****ne)**

Mary couldn't open her eyes. Although she was aware that her roommate's alarm just went off for the third time and she was supposed to get up immediately in order to be in time for breakfast, she was too tired to move a muscle. Even a pillow chucked at her head by said roommate was unsuccessful in waking her up properly. "What's up with you? You're gonna be late", the girl was saying.

Mary moaned and opened one eye to look at her best friend. She knew staying up late last night to study for her OWL's (which would start in two weeks) had been a bad idea. "I don't want to. It's no time to get up yet."

Lily laughed. "It's seven o'clock in the morning," she said merrily and Mary once again wondered how anyone could be bright and shiny at this inhumane hour. "If you don't want to miss out on breakfast and still be on time for Transfiguration, it's time to get out of bed right this second."

She yawned. "That may be, but I'm still not getting up."

"Oh yes you are," Lily replied while reaching for her wand and waving it around so that the blankets floated up into the air and neatly folded themselves before dropping down on the end of Mary's bed, who was glaring at her. "You are supposed to be my friend."

"I am. You'll be thanking me later."

"Urrrrgh, you're evil! Where's Brice?"

"She went down early," Lily said, referring to their other roommate and friend. "Something about returning a book to the library. Now Mare, just hop into the shower already. I'll go downstairs and safe you some toast before Peter gets to it."

Lily was whistling as she walked out of the dormitory, ignoring any further glares from her friend, and after another moment of glaring at the alarm clock, Mary sighed and dragged herself out of bed, unable to shake off the feeling that it might be better to spend the day in bed.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later Mary was all dressed and ready for some breakfast. She was still exhausted and not quite awake just yet, but a cup of coffee (or two) would fix that problem. She headed down to the Great Hall while wrapping her wet hair into a loose bun. She hadn't had time to really pay attention to her hairdo, but she didn't care. There wasn't anyone in particular she wanted to dress up for at the moment anyway. She passed a group of seventh-year students (including her first ever boyfriend Randall McCormack) like she always did: holding her chin up high and ignoring their whistles.

She was about to round the corner that led to the Great Hall when she spotted a group of Slytherins a little head; a few students were from her year, others were somewhat older. Avery, Mulciber and Snape were among them. A malicious smile appeared on their faces when Mary approached them, but she wasn't too troubled. The Slytherins were standing right next to the doors of the Hall; no student would be right in their mind to pull something off with all the Professors nearby.

So she kept on walking, feeling confident, and was about to walk by when Mulciber suddenly stepped forward. He was a tall and muscular guy who mostly resembled a block of cement whereas Mary was slender and rather petite, so she didn't stand a change when he crashed into her. He gave her a rough push with his shoulder and she tumbled backwards against the wall. "Ow!" she cried when she hit the stone. "What the Hell did you do that for?"

"I'm so sorry," Mulciber said, smiling down sweetly. "I must have missed you there."

Mary shot him a glare. He and his mates had been watching her attentively when she walked towards them; _no way_ he could have missed her. He had pushed her down on purpose.

"I didn't see you," Mulciber repeated, still smiling, although Mary noticed his grin wasn't quite reaching his cool eyes. "Come, let me help you back up."

He was holding out his hand to her and, after a brief moment of hesitation, Mary took it. His hand was unusually sticky – sweaty, she reasoned with a shudder – and she let go as soon as she was back on her feet. "Thanks," she muttered while wiping her hand clean on her skirt.

"Again, I am _so_ sorry," Mulciber said regretfully, but Mary did not miss the sniggering of the other guys. Something was not right.

"Yeah, whatever. Just watch where you going next time, okay?" she replied shortly before walking into the Great Hall, trying to shake off the thought that those Slytherins were up to no good and she should probably report them to the Professors.

Mary hurried over to the Gryffindor table and flopped down between Remus and Lily, right behind the plate carrying two slices of toast with a thick layer of marmalade on top. "You have about for minutes left to eat. What took you so long?" the latter asked, looking annoyed.

"A blockade of Slytherins", Mary replied darkly.

James and Sirius, who until that time had been using their wands to play a brutal-looking game of hangman, looked up with sudden interest. "What happened?" James asked.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. When I passed them on my way to the Hall, they pushed me against the wall so I fell down, only to apologize and pull me back to my feet afterwards. It made no sense. All I know is that there was something fishy about it."

"Who?"

"Who what?"

"Who did this?" James inquired.

"Well, it was Mulciber who pushed me. Avery was there, along with three younger boys I didn't recognize and… ehm… Snape was there, too", Mary finished hesitantly after shooting Lily a look.

James and Sirius exchanged dark glances and Lily frowned. "Are you sure? Did you see him there with them?"

"Yes Lily," Mary replied testily. "I wouldn't be telling you if I didn't, would I?"

"Mary, calm down," Brice said soothingly. "You don't have to bite her head off. It's not her fault."

Lily shrugged guiltily. "You said it was weird yourself. All I'm saying is that Sev might have been there by accident. Perhaps he was just walking by…"

James shot her an incredulous look. "Evans, why are you still defending that slimy git?"

"Hang on a sec, all I said was that it's _possible_ that Severus had noth-"

"Snivellus just attacked your best friend! Surely you should be looking out for her instead of protecting that prat you keep snuggling up to in distant corridors?"

"What I do in my own time is none of your business, Potter. And of course I'm concerned about Mary. But it's Mulciber who did this, not Severus."

James rolled his eyes and muttered something inarticulately that only Peter could hear, who started sniggering and choked on his toast as a result. Meanwhile Sirius, who until that point had animatedly followed the latest argument between James and Lily, leaned over the table towards Mary. "Did they hurt you?"

Mary had been staring down at her plate for the last minute, lost in thought, and did not hear him. Sirius exchanged a look with Remus who was sitting next to her before he placed a hand on her arm and shook it gently. "Hey, Woods."

"Hmm?"

"Mulciber, did he hurt you?"

She slowly shook her head. "Not really. He just smacked me into that wall, but aside from a few scratches, I think I'm okay." She swallowed with difficulty. "Although I do feel a bit nauseous."

"That's probably because you haven't eaten anything yet," Remus said kindly, pushing the abandoned plate towards her. "Eat, it will make you feel better."

Mary suppressed a sudden upcoming burp. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll just stick to coffee for now."

She resolutely pushed the plate back to the centre of the table and spotted the hopeful look on Peter's face. "Go right ahead, Pete," she said, rolling her eyes at him. "You eat far too much, though."

"You eat way too little," he shrugged before grabbing the plate and taking a bite.

"The man's got a point, you know," Sirius said, watching her sip the coffee when most of the other students got up from their table and headed out of the Great Hall to their first lesson of the day. He sighed. "We'd better go to Transfiguration, but Mary, I want you to know that we'll get back at those Slytherins before the end of the week. They won't know what hit them."

"You'll do no such thing, Black," Lily said from right behind them. "Remus and I will reporting to McGonagall this afternoon. That should be enough."

Sirius huffed. "An afternoon of writing 'I am not supposed to push fellow classmates against walls' on parchment isn't going to stop those gits."

"Perhaps not, but the Professors do need to know about this. They can punish those Slytherins as they see fit."

"Including Snape, Lily?"

Mary, who was feeling like she had downed twenty cups of coffee instead of one, saw the surprised look on Sirius's face. She realized he was about to say something like this, but had been beaten to it by Brice. Lily hesitated briefly before answering: "Including him, _if_ he had something to do with it. Which is up to the Professors to decide, not us."

She turned and walked out of the Great Hall, cleverly zigzagging around a group of fourth-year Ravenclaw girls – one of them, Cordelia Bones, was yelling at one of her friends for snatching her pumpkin juice – on the way.

"Thanks," Sirius said, looking at Brice. "For backing me up there."

"Yeah, well," Brice replied, avoiding his eyes. She, Mary knew, still hadn't gotten over Sirius and the way he had ditched her for a French exchange student a few months ago. "Someone had to do it. Come on, Mary."

Her voice seemed to come from miles away. Mary felt like she was walking in a no man's land between consciousness and sleeping. Everything moved in slow motion and she had trouble standing on her feet until Brice grabbed her by the arm. "Are you okay? Do I need to take you to Madam Pomfrey?"

She could not explain why, but Mary suddenly had a feeling that if she went to the hospital wing, bad things would happen to her. So even though she felt like she was going to be sick, she vehemently shook her head and headed for the exit. Swaying a little bit, she finally reached the entrance doors by herself.

Remus and the others had followed her. "Are you-?"

"I'm _fine_!" Mary snapped in return. "Just leave me the bloody hell alone."

She continued to walk and half-expected the others to follow and stop her, but felt relieved when they didn't interrupt her again.

* * *

By the time Mary reached the Transfiguration classroom, the others had already arrived before her and the lesson was about to start. "Hurry up, miss Woods," Professor McGonagall said when she entered the room. "We don't have all day."

Mary felt annoyed with the Head of her house. She was always so strict and without an obvious sense of humour that it made her wonder when the Professor had smiled for the last time; right about the first World War had come to an end, perhaps? Mary considered saying this out loud, but the stern look from McGonagall and an vehemently waving Lily in the corner of her eye made her reconsider.

For now, because something was dawning on her by the time she reached Lily and Brice's table. She was extremely angry with everyone and everything in this room. From the boring-looking tables on the chalkboard McGonagall was drawing with her wand to the smug grin on Sirius's face as he was flirting with a Hufflepuff-girl in the next row and the worried looks she was getting from Brice and Lily. "Why are you so late?" the latter asked.

"Bugger off!" Mary snapped in return.

Lily's jaw dropped and Brice leaned forward, frowning at her. "What is wrong with you?"

Mary suddenly had a strong urge to smack her friend in the face. Why couldn't they just leave her the Hell alone? "Nothing! If you would just mind your own business, I would really appreciate it."

"But-"

"-What part about backing off don't you understand?" she hissed.

Brice opened her mouth to reply, but she was cut off by McGonagall. "Silence, everyone. Today we'll practice some more Vanishing Spells."

The class groaned in unison.

"Don't give me that attitude. Vanishing Spells are the most important spells you need to have mastered at you O.W.L's, which, I need not remind you, will start in two weeks." She waved her wand and made turtles appear on every table. "You have one hour."

Most students heaved another sigh before they obediently grabbed their wands and started practising. Mary on the other hand did not move a muscle and stared at the opposite wall with her arms crossed and a grouchy look on her face. This, of course, did not go by unnoticed. "Miss Woods," McGonagall asked when she paused next to her table. "Is there a particular reason why you are not practising on your turtle?"

"You can say that again."

"I beg your pardon?"

"This! Stupid Vanishing Spells we've practised a zillion times already. I'm bored out of my wits."

McGonagall's eyes narrowed. "Unfortunately it is not my concern if I am boring you with the lesson material, Woods. But since you already seem to excel at it, why don't you demonstrate how it's done?"

Mary cursed inwardly. The Professor was challenging her! Suppressing the urge to stuff that ugly tall hat down the Professor's face, she picked up her wand and pointed it at the turtle. "_Evanesco_," she said in a clear voice.

Nothing happened. At least the turtle was still sitting on her table. The only thing she had managed to vanish was the animal's head, which was odd considering she had mastered Vanishing Spells weeks ago. It felt as if she had been using only half of her powers, just like she had no full control over feeling angry and aggressive for no apparent reason.

"Dude, she just decapitated a turtle," James, sitting a row behind her, whispered to Peter, who sniggered.

Mary wheeled around in her chair. "Say that again and I might do the same thing to you!"

"On the contrary, Woods," McGonagall interrupted, forcing Mary to stop glaring at a stunned James and turn forward again. "One more word out of _you_ and-"

"Oh, bite me."

The class gasped. No one had _ever_ spoken to McGonagall like that, not even the Marauders. The Professor's mouth had turned into a thin line. "Detention, Woods. And if you dare to open your mouth again, you shall be suspended from this class for the remains of your Hogwarts career."

Mary let out a frustrated cry and glared up at the Professor. When their eyes met, the McGonagall's furious gaze suddenly changed to shock, but she was grateful for finally getting a chance to say what she wanted to do all along. "I've always wondered, Professor: when is the last time you smiled? Because if you believe this stuck up look will prevent you from getting wrinkles, I'd say you're doing a very poor job."

James and Sirius burst out laughing in the deadly quiet room, but McGonagall silenced them with one look. She appeared angry, but who looked closer would see that she looked even more worried. "Miss Woods, pack your bag and leave. And listen carefully, I want you to head _straight_ to the Headmaster's office, understand?"

Mary did not answer. She simply chucked all her belongings (with the exception of the beheaded turtle) in her bag and stamped to the door, refusing to look at any of her friends. When she reached the doorway, McGonagall said something that made her turn back: "And I will be writing to your father about this matter tonight."

She suppressed the urge to laugh and made a scornful sound. "Wooooh, I'm so scared."

* * *

"Not a good look." That was the first thing Mary thought when she was staring in the mirror in the girl's bathroom on the third floor. Her reflection showed a pale and gaunt-faced sixteen-year-old girl with hollow eyes and mad hair.

She hadn't gone to Dumbledore's office after McGonagall send her from her class. She was feeling too shaky to make it to the end of the corridor. The peculiar rush of anger and the strong urge to insult everyone she cared about or respected had disappeared. Instead, she felt like she was about to collapse any second. Mary didn't understand what was wrong with her. She already had trouble remembering what she had said exactly in Transfiguration. All she knew was that she must have insulted McGonagall in a horrible way.

Mary groaned and rested her head against the mirror. She took a few deep breaths while running some water from the tap over the inside of her wrists before looking up into the mirror once more. She still looked like the bride of Frankenstein.

But she knew what she had to do. She either needed to find Dumbledore, her friends, or even the hospital wing. Fact was that she needed help. Feeling dizzy, Mary stumbled out of the bathroom and – using the wall – slowly shuffled towards the head of the staircase. Dark spots were dancing in front her eyes and a sudden splitting headache made it difficult to see where she was going. Mary thought she recognized the silhouette and voices of Remus and Sirius at the end. They were talking to a small group of students. "So," Remus was asking, "that was the third student in a row behaving strangely?"

"Yes," one of the younger students said. "We were on our way to Herbology when Stuart Nickelby yelled at Hagrid that Giants should be exterminated and the world would be a better place without filthy half-breeds like him. And I heard Cordelia Bones from Ravenclaw tried to seduce Slughorn in order to get her grades up."

"Weird…" Remus said, scratching his chin.

"Yeah," Sirius nodded. "And here I was thinking Woods had lost her mind."

Mary was swaying dangerously close near the top of the stairs when he spotted her. "Woods?! What in Merlin's name are you doing up there?"

"I… I don't feel s-so good," she stammered. "I… think I- Oh!"

She had slipped on one of the steps and lost her balance; there was nothing she could do. Mary tumbled down the stairs sideways, bruising her head and backside with every step she crossed. The marble floor below was approaching fast and there was no time to break her fall. It looked like she was going to hit the ground with her head, but then a pair of strong arms prevented this from happening. "Woods, you alright?"

Mary moaned before opening her eyes and looking up in the grey eyes belonging to Sirius Black. "Wasgoinon?"

"You made a nasty tumble down the stairs, that's what." He carefully altered his position so he was sitting on one of the lower steps and she was pulled onto his lap. "Are you in pain?"

"She fell down the stairs, Sirius," an older student noted sarcastically. "I'm sure she's just peachy."

Sirius shot him a glare when Remus crouched down next them. "Mary," he asked, putting a cool hand to her face. "Can you tell us where it hurts?"

"Urrrgh… My head."

Remus carefully touched her forehead, frowning. "We should get a Professor."

Sirius shook his head. "No, that would take too long. I'm taking her to Madam Pomfrey."

"And how are you planning to do that?" the older student sneered. "She can hardly sit up straight, let alone walk to the hospital wing.

"Indeed", Sirius said shortly before getting to his feet and lifting Mary in his arms, "which is why I'm carrying her there." He looked at Remus. "Go tell McGonagall."

Remus nodded. "And I'll warn Lily and Brice as well."

He hurried off and Sirius headed over to the hospital wing. He was carrying her with apparent ease and his grip felt sure and soothing, but all Mary could think about was that he now had the perfect excuse to get his hands on her bottom after all. "I 'ope you're enjoying this, Black," she mumbled when they were rounding the corner into the corridor that led to the hospital wing.

"Enjoying what?"

"I'd jus'like to point ou' that i's only time you're allowed to'touch me like this."

Her face was resting against his shoulder, so Mary could not quite see his face, but she knew all too well Sirius was grinning; a smile that made practically every girl in Hogwarts go weak in the knees. The confirmation she was waiting for followed soon enough. "I'm cherishing every moment of it, love," he said calmly before entering the hospital wing.

"Good grief, not another one!" Madam Pomfrey called when she spotted Sirius and Mary.

The school nurse was having a point. Almost every bed in the hospital wing was taken by students in various states. Some of them were crying hysterically, others swearing and a few dazed-looking girls were dazedly staring ahead. "How bad is it?" Madam Pomfrey asked Sirius.

"Not too good. She insulted Professor McGonagall in various ways and then fell down the stairs."

"Tut-tut. Any broken bones?"

"I don't think so."

"Alright. Well, put her down there."

Sirius walked to the bed Madam Pomfrey pointed to and put Mary down as gently as possible. He let his gaze run over the crowd and was amazed by the number of sick students in the room. "What is going on?"

"Couple of students thinking it's fun to poison fellow students," she said shortly while examining Mary. "Miss Woods, what is hurting the most?"

It took Mary a moment to formulate an answer and she pointed to her head. "It feels'like it's about'to burst."

"Naturally." The school nurse walked into her office and came back moments later holding a tall blue flask and a small cup. She poured out a sticky potion that looked like mashed raspberries and handed it over. Mary obeyed and downed the potion in one go. She pulled a face – the potion did not taste like raspberry or any forest fruit for that matter; instead it was like drinking pure washing-up liquid. The result was effective immediately though, because Mary's headache had disappeared and she felt like she was about to fall asleep.

"What happened to her?" Sirius asked right when the doors burst open and Lily and Remus came running inside, closely followed by James, Brice, Alison Zabini and Peter.

Madam Pomfrey shot Sirius a grim look. "Miss Woods, like the other patients admitted today, was placed under a nasty curse."

"A _curse_?" Lily cried, still panting from the sprint to the hospital wing.

"Yes," Madam Pomfrey said. "Dark Magic, looks like. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to attend to some other patients."

The school nurse had only just turned around when Lily and Brice hurried over to Mary's bedside. "I _knew_ you were under some kind of spell," the latter said.

"I'm so sorry I didn't realize what was going on sooner," Lily said guiltily.

Mary shrugged. "You couldn't have. Heck, even _I_ didn't know what was wrong with me."

James, who had been unusually quiet since they got to the hospital wing, suddenly said: "You know what worries me the most? Did you notice that every other student in this room, like Mary, is-"

"Muggle-born?" Remus finished for him. "Yes, I had just worked that one out myself."

"An attack on Muggle-borns?" Sirius chimed in. "That-"

"-Is a nice theory," a calm voice spoke from behind them. Albus Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were standing near the head of Mary's bed. "But a mere theory until we have thoroughly investigated every other possibility," the Headmaster continued before looking at Mary. "How are you?"

"Alright, sir," Mary said, feeling her cheeks turn crimson. She was embarrassed to the core and hardly dared to look at McGonagall. "A bit tired and hazy, but I'll be fine." She finally forced herself to look up at the Head of her House. "I'm so sorry for what I said in Transfiguration, Professor. I hope you will accept my apology."

"I knew it wasn't really you saying those things, Miss Woods," McGonagall said kindly.

"How did you know that?" Brice asked.

"Her eyes turned black," the Professor answered. "Only for a moment, but that's when I realized she was under a curse."

"Why didn't you do anything about it, then?" James asked.

"Because, Potter, lifting a curse when you're not sure what is affecting the victim can be very dangerous." She looked at Mary. "Consider your detentions, including the suspension, cancelled."

"Thank you, Professor."

"Of course Professor McGonagall will still be writing to your father this evening," Dumbledore said.

Mary looked appalled. "What, why?"

"To inform your family about what happened today," he explained. "They have the right to know."

Mary groaned and hid her face in her hands, thinking it was going to take hours to convince her overprotective father that Hogwarts was not a dangerous place where people got cursed all the time, but the Headmaster ignored her audible embarrassment and looked around at the others. "In the meantime, I trust you all to be wise and trust us to deal with this accordingly."

"But sir!" Sirius objected. "We know who did this to Mary and probably to those other students as well!"

McGonagall raised a hand. "Innocent until proven guilty, Black," she said as she shot every Marauder a stern look and ended with James, who was about to open his mouth when she cut him off. "Meaning you shall leave this matter to us. If I detect but the merest hint that you are planning to get back at the perpetrators on your own, the consequences will be severe. Have I made myself clear?"

James exchanged a dark glance with Sirius, but in the end they nodded and mumbled: "Yes, Professor."

"Good. Now, I suggest you give Miss Woods some well-needed rest and head back to the Common Room. Miss McDonald, Evans, the same goes for you."

Mary cleared her throat. "Actually," she asked shyly, "I would really like one of them to stay."

McGonagall looked at Dumbledore, who nodded. "Fine. Miss Evans can stay."

Brice got up from the bed and squeezed Mary's hand. "I'll come visit again soon," she whispered before leaving the hospital wing with the other guys.

McGonagall followed Dumbledore to the other side of the room where they tried to soothe a terrified-looking first-year. Meanwhile, Mary rubbed her temples. "Are you in pain?" Lily asked anxiously.

"No. Itchy." She looked at her best friend. "Godric Lil, I'm so embarrassed. I behaved like a complete lunatic, haven't I?"

"Well, it wasn't really you."

"I know, but…" she sighed. "I sure would like to give that Mulciber a piece of my mind, no matter what McGonagall says."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Lily nodded grimly.

Mary stared at her friend in surprise. It wasn't like Lily to go against anything the Professors said. "Are you serious?"

"Yep," she said, looking determined. "There's no way the ones responsible for what happened will get away with a few lost house points and detentions. Besides, our greatest advantage is that we already know who they are."

"But so do James and the others."

"True, but seriously Mare, I don't want to bring Potter and his cronies into this at any time. And you can't tell them anything either, understand?"

Mary thought it over for a moment before she nodded. "I promise. So what do you have in mind?"

Lily leaned in a little closer. Her emerald eyes were twinkling mysteriously when she said: "Here's what we're gonna do."

**- End of Part One –**

**A/N -** Apologies for that nasty little cliffhanger. I hope I will find some time soon to get the second half up *crosses fingers* In the meantime, care to guess what Lily and Mary are going to do to get back at Mulciber & co.? Any thoughts?

**P.P.S.** This short is based on my longterm story _My Everlasting Love_, which evolves around the turbulent relationship of Sirius and Mary in the first Wizard War, but also has a lot of James/Lily (and a little Remus/OC). Interested? You can find the link to that story on my profile.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Apologies for taking so long to update this short story. I will try to get the third part up here a lot more quickly, promise!

**Dedication:** Everyone who reads and is kind enough to review my work.

**Disclaimer:** Depends who you're asking, really…

**Part Two**

"I ask you: what is the one thing that will embarrass a Slytherin the most?"

Mary, still struggling a little bit with the after effects of the curse, furrowed her brow thoughtfully. _Was this a trick question?_ She shrugged. "I don't know. You tell me."

"Just think, Mare!" Lily whispered, leaning in closer to prevent a passing Madam Pomfrey from hearing her, "_I_ say: a proud Slytherin's worst possible nightmare and _you_ say…"

"Making him hook up with a Muggle-born in the middle of the Great Hall?"

"No, silly!" Lily laughed, giving her shoulder a little push. "Although," she continued more seriously, "that IS a rather good idea. Should our initial plan fail, then perhaps…"

She trailed off, her emerald eyes suddenly turning distant while thinking this over, until she suddenly forced herself to get back to the current conversation. Her friend waved a dismissive hand. "Anyway, not the point here."

"So what is-" Mary was temporarily distracted by a loudly bellowing Bertram Aubrey being carried into the Hospital Wing; he started serenading Madam Pomfrey and had to be strapped to a bed by his friends in order to keep him from jumping on top of her. "Sorry. What is your initial plan?"

"Well, look around you. What happened to you and the others around here was pretty embarrassing, so obviously our payback has to be something really humiliating too. So I was thinking… I remember reading this one interesting chapter in a book about Advanced Transfiguration. It was about making things take form of the opposite sex."

Lily said this like all of it was making perfect sense, but to Mary, it sounded like she was talking in a foreign language. "I am not sure I'm following you here. You're saying you want to transfigure Mulciber and the others into girls?"

"Not _them_ in particular," she replied, smiling mysteriously.

"Huh?"

"Only the objects they encounter," she elaborated. "Those will transform immediately at the touch of the victim."

"Victim? Geez Lil, you make it sound like we're really going to hurt them."

Lily arched an eyebrow. "We are. Not psychically, of course, but the embarrassment will be utterly devastating. Keep in mind that _they_ won't notice what is going on. Unlike everyone else who's around, of course." She started to grin mischievously again and Mary found herself wondering if Lily was secretly a lot more like James and Sirius than she would ever like to admit.

"I don't know, Lil. How can we get close to them in the first place?"

"Welcome to the wonderful world of Advanced Charms. You won't necessarily need to _touch_ someone to get things done anymore." Her friend thoughtfully screwed up her nose. "Although we'd better lurk around the Slytherin Common Room, just in case. Chances are we accidentally hit a few other students if we perform the spell near the Great Hall."

"Hmmm." Mary let her herself sink back into the pillows, considering Lily's big master plan of revenge. "I'm still not sure. I mean, this spell sounds pretty advanced, if you ask me."

Lily shrugged. "I'm the best in our year with Charms, you excel at Transfiguration - I think we'll be just fine. And Brice is pretty good at both subjects, so with her on board we're _definitely_ going to make this work."

"You really want to drag Brice into all this?"

Lily chuckled. "I think she'd be insulted if we left her out."

"I guess so." Mary massaged her temples before stifling a yawn.

"You're tired. I'd better dash anyway, before Madam Pomfrey realizes I'm still here." She jumped off the bed and swung her bag over her shoulder. "I'm taking care of everything. I'll head to the Library right away to see if that book's still around and I'll have a talk with Brice tonight. See what she thinks."

"Thanks Lil," Mary replied, grateful that her friend had seen what she was trying to deny all day: that she was completely knackered and wanted nothing more than sleep the effects of the curse off.

Lily gently squeezed her hand and winked. "None taken. Besides, we all want you back bright and early tomorrow for the match."

_The match_. Of course, how could she forget? Tomorrow morning at eleven o'clock, the highly anticipated final game of this Quidditch season would take place and it promised to be the match of the year. Gryffindor was up against Slytherin and if they lost, Slytherin would win the Quidditch Cup. But if they managed to beat their opponent by 240 points, they would become champion instead. It was, so to speak, a crucial match and the school had been talking about it for weeks. Even Mary, not exactly the biggest fan of the game, had been affected by the Quidditch buzz. She nodded. "I'll see you guys at breakfast."

"Sleep tight." Lily winked one last time and turned to walk out of the Hospital Wing, cleverly zigzagging on the way to avoid clashing into two third year girls who were fighting over a photograph of Professor Slughorn.

_Fighting over Slughorn..._ Mary watched this rather amusing scene for a while, grateful for the fact that, although the curse had made her turn against her friends and yell at McGonagall, at least she did not develop a crush on any of the Professors. She sunk back into the pillows and closed her eyes to get some sleep. This however was easier said than done with those fighting girls nearby, not to mention Bertram Aubrey who was still kicking and screaming on his bed, now loudly protesting and refusing to swallow down the antidote Potion Madam Pomfrey was forcing down his throat. With a frustrated groan, she turned to the other side and covered her ear with her pillow.

* * *

After a particular restless night, in which Mary got some sleep in the end but had to endure nightmares of insulting McGonagall in various ways, she got dressed in the morning and thanked Madam Pomfrey for taking care of her. Then she headed down to the Great Hall to have breakfast before the game would start. James and Sirius, who played in the Gryffindor Team, had already left to prepare themselves for "the match of the year".

After having two cups of dark coffee and eating a bowl of yoghurt and fresh strawberries while telling Lily, Brice, Remus and Peter about how she got through the night, Mary and her friends followed the other students outside. They were the last people exiting the Castle and had to hurry to get the Quidditch field in time.

It was a bright but rather chilly Spring morning and Mary, walking aside Peter and Brice, shivered in her thin Summer cloak. She was about to button up her collar when Lily raised her wand behind her and muttered some vague incantation; immediately Mary felt a pleasant warm glow inside her robes that spread down to her very socks and the front of her shoes. _Good old Lil, knowing all the handy spells that made life more comfortable_, Mary thought, smiling to herself. She turned back to Lily and Remus. "Thanks."

Her best friend grinned back. "You looked like you could use a little warmth in there."

"It's amazing how much difference it makes, I feel much better! Where did you learn this?"

Lily arched an eyebrow. "What do you think we're doing in Charms Club, drinking tea?"

Remus sniggered – it was no secret Professor Flitwick had a real thing for collecting teas from all over the world and sharing them with his Charms Club students - and she rolled her eyes. "_Besides_ drinking tea, that is."

"I get it," Mary replied. "You must teach me this spell one day, though. My feet often get stone cold at night, I could really do without that."

"Sure... Or you could just join Charms Club yourself."

She screwed up her nose. "Nah, I'm more of a Defence-girl, you know that."

Lily shrugged. With a tiny wink, Mary turned back to the conversation of Brice and Peter, who was just telling her about Muggles making coffee by using an electric grinder, something he'd apparently picked up in Muggle Studies. They had almost reached the stands of the field. It was really crowded. Most of the lower rows of the Gryffindor Stand were already taken. A minute later, when Mary had crossed the path along the field and was climbing the first stairs, she heard someone going "Psssst" behind her.

She looked back and raised her eyebrows questioningly when she realized it was Sirius calling her, all dressed up in his Quidditch gear. He and his teammates had gathered in front of the front gate, apparently waiting for the signal from the referee to fly out onto the field. Sirius seemed nervous, but looked not nearly as tense as James, who was staring out over the field with a determination Mary had never seen before. Sirius made the "Pssst"-noise again and ushered her to come down. She turned back and – ignoring Brice's look – headed over to the gate, pushing her way through a group of Ravenclaw girls, who clearly were only there to flirt with Sirius (or one the other Quidditch guys). "What's up?"

Sirius leaned on the fence and smiled at her, but not before shooting one of the Ravenclaw-girls his trademark grin. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. Better than Bertram Aubrey, at least," Mary replied, thinking of the sheer embarrassment on Aubrey's face when realizing he had repeatedly declared his eternal love for the school nurse.

He arched an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"Meaning he can never look at Madam Pomfrey in the same way."

"What a loser." Sirius sniggered, shaking his head before turning more serious. "But you're really doing okay?"

"Didn't I just say that?"

"I know, but…" Her gaze dropped to his hands that were slightly fidgeting with his brown Quidditch gloves. Was she really witnessing Sirius getting more nervous by the minute? Must be because of the match, she reasoned matter-of-factly, right before he raised a hand and ran it through his hair. "I'm just saying that, no matter what McGonagall says, we'll get our revenge eventually, make no mistake."

"Erm..." Mary did not fail to notice the elegance of his hair falling perfectly back into place and blinked in confusion. _How could anyone be this annoyingly handsome without paying any trouble whatsoever?_ "Right. Won't you be getting back at them enough by winning this game?"

"Not even close. Those Slytherins should've thought again before messing with you. And- And those other Muggle-borns of course," he added quickly when seeing the surprised look on Mary's face. "I'm not alone in this. James and the others want vengeance as much as I do."

"Thanks, Sirius… But I don't want you guys expelled over something silly like this. I… So I'd rather if you guys just leave it. That's the most mature thing to do, anyway," she added seriously for good measure, crossing her fingers behind her back.

"Really?" Sirius shot her a closer look and for a moment, Mary was sure he could see right through her.

She blushed. "Absolutely."

He appeared to be somewhat taken aback by her reasoning. "Well okay, if that's what you really want…"

A sharp whistle interrupted them. It was James, ushering Sirius to mount his broom and fly out to the field. The other Gryffindor players had already left. "I'm coming!" Sirius called back.

James nodded once before taking off as well - the crowd went wild at the sight of him and Mary could vividly imagine Lily rolling her eyes at so many people admiring the "star player of the Quidditch team".

Sirius was still watching her, as if he couldn't believe Mary was being so mature about the whole thing. Which, truthfully, of course she wasn't, but he didn't need to know that. After he had mounted his broom and was hovering close above the ground, he hesitated. "Just so we're clear…"

Mary faked an impatient sigh. "I. Don't want. You guys. To do. Anything. At all."

He grinned. "Alright, alright! Your loss, though."

As he flew off, Mary called out "Good luck!" after him, but she wasn't sure if he heard her. She walked back to the stairs and was surprised to find Brice at very bottom, still leaning against the vast wooden pillar. "Was that a little moment between you and Black I just witnessed?" she asked, frowning slightly.

Mary laughed. "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied airily.

"Hmmm." The two friends headed up the stairs together in silence. "I know what I _saw_," she suddenly continued stubbornly. "Was he asking you out?"

"What?! No, of course not! Like I would ever date a tosser like him."

Brice "hmmpf"-ed and said nothing. She was still not over the fact that Sirius had dumped her for some random French exchange student a few months back. Mary watched her friend's moody expression for another flight of stairs until she had enough and sighed. "Look Brice, how many more times am I going to have to explain there is nothing going on? He and I are just… Well, not friends obviously, but we simply get along better now."

"Which is quite a change from loathing him with all your might."

"Well, that's true." Mary chuckled. "Sometimes I don't even understand it myself."

"So what did he want from you, then?"

"He was saying he and James are up to something; they want to get back at Mulciber and the others."

Brice arched an eyebrow. "Including Snape?"

"Probably."

"Lily is not going to be pleased. What did you say?"

"I emphasized that I want them to stay out of it, and let the Professors deal with the perpetrators instead."

She snorted incredulously. "And you're saying that with a straight face when you are soon going to get your revenge yourself? What a load of crap! Did Sirius actually buy that?"

"Hey, I can be quite convincing if I want to be, you know," Mary replied a little defensively when they had reached the top of the stands and started looking for Lily and the others. Considering the loud cheers and the sound of fast passing brooms, the match had already begun. She finally spotted Remus at the other end of the row, and waved. "However, I doubt anyone can talk him out of something he really wants to do, but I hope he'll make an exception for me."

"Especially since _you're_ being so mature about this," Brice said, raising her voice in an attempt to get over the loud booo-ing of the Gryffindor crowd (Slytherin had just scored the first goal).

She grinned. "Says the one who made James lend her his precious Invisibility Cloak."

This time it was Brice's turn to grin mischievously. "You'd be surprised what he does when there's a chance to impress Lily. I helped him finish the most difficult crossword puzzle in the Sunday Prophet so he can boast about it in front of her and he's going to give me the Cloak when I ask for it. Simple."

"And," Mary said when they finally reached the row where their friends had saved them two seats, "does he know she doesn't give a crap about crossword puzzles?"

"No," she replied serenely. "And I never said that she does. I _may_ have dropped something in that direction, but James just jumped to the wrong conclusion."

"I'm intrigued. What did you tell him?"

Brice shot her a wicked look. "Just that it would impress _any_ of my friends if a guy finishes a crossword puzzle within the hour. He just didn't realize I wasn't talking about Lily, but you."

Mary grumbled and muttered something inarticulately; knowing all too well that her friend was referring to that one time in third year she spent an entire Christmas holiday on solving the crossword puzzle from the Prophet, but failed miserably. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't come up with the final two answers. It was all the more humiliating when, on the train back to Hogwarts, Remus took one look at it and filled in the answers for her. Ever since, Mary had stayed far away from those evil cryptic things, but secretly she would never stop admiring people like Brice and Remus, who were able to solve those puzzles, no matter how difficult, in the blink of an eye. And Brice knew that.

"I'm sorry? I didn't get that last part," her friend said, poking her in a teasing manner.

"It was this _one_ time," she said irritatibly, trying to block out the cheers around them. "And I don't think people who can solve them are all that great."

Brice chuckled while slightly adjusting the Gryffindor scarf on her neck. "Well, if it makes you feel better, Sirius barely even looked up when I told James, said he thinks crossword puzzles are for losers."

Mary glared. "What do _I_ care what Sirius thinks!"

The "what Sirius thinks"-part fell right into a brief silence of the cheering crowd, causing several people in the rows before and beside them to glance back at her. Mary blushed fiercely, silently cursing the crisp air, making her cheeks flame even more than usual. Their other friends had also caught the last part of their conversation. Peter had momentarily stopped eating the Sugarquills he had been shoving inside non-stop and Remus and Lily were both watching them curiously. Mary looked sideways at Brice, who was trying really hard not to laugh.

"What were you talking about?" Lily asked.

"Sirius."

"Crossword puzzles!"

Both of them had spoken simultaneously. Lily arched her eyebrows in surprise and exchanged a look with Remus. Mary helplessly turned back to Brice, who shrugged: "Sirius _and_ crossword puzzles," she elaborated.

Lily quickly lost interest. "None of which interests me in the least." She turned back to the game and applauded politely when she realized that James had just scored the next goal.

"How are they doing?" Brice asked, clapping a lot more loudly than Lily.

Remus shook his head. "Not too well, I'm afraid. They're seventy points behind, but they still have enough time to get back in the game. Just as long as Wilkes doesn't see the Snitch before Frobisher does."

Unfortunately, Wilkes did. It took the Slytherin Seeker only another twenty minutes before he spotted the tiny golden ball and dove straight at it. Frobisher followed suit, but since she had started off too late, it was simply impossible to snatch the Snitch before he did. Thanks to Wilkes, Slytherin beat Gryffindor by 190 points and by that, had won this year's Quidditch Cup.

To say the mood of the Gryffindor student population became low after that, was an understatement. Considering most students of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw had also been supporting Gryffindor in this game, you could say the entire school (with the exception of Slytherin House, of course) was feeling a little depressed.

Especially James, normally the first person to cheer up the team after a lost game, seemed inconsolable. The cheers and sneers he and his team mates got to endure from the Slytherin crowd in the following days did not make it any better; in fact, the taunting comments were breaking down hiss self-confidence more every day. This development, Mary thought, was not necessarily a terrible thing (James could be far too presumptuous for his own good). But she did feel bad for him.

* * *

Surprisingly, she was not alone in that. When she and her friends were spending their afternoon in the Library a few days later, Mary spotted James and Peter at a table nearby. They appeared to be studying some kind of map, but James hastily pocketed it when a small group of Slytherins was approaching them. Wilkes and Mulciber were among them. They sat down at a nearby table and started to chuck scraps of parchment at him. James tried to ignore it, but Mary knew he was going to lose his temper sooner or later. She nudged Lily and cocked her head in his direction. "Look at that."

Her friends followed her gaze and Brice cursed silently. "Bloody Wilkes, what's his deal anyway?"

"Yeah," Lily agreed. "He and his friends already have the Cup, what more could they want?"

"He lost his confidence after the game," Mary observed, watching how James was pretending to focus on his Transfiguration book in an attempt to keep ignoring the scraps flying at his head from every direction. "And they know it. Now that he's alone – well, almost alone, I can't see Peter doing anything to stop it – they go after him."

"Where's Madam Pince when you need her?" Brice watched the Slytherins for another moment. "You know, James looks almost adorable. Take away the conceited git he usually pretends to be and what's left is actually a fairly decent guy."

"Are you saying you like seeing James being bullied?" Mary asked, appalled.

"No, of course not," Brice whispered back. "I'm just saying it's a refreshing sight."

Lily was sitting bolt upright, still watching the disturbing scene, her frown increasing by the minute. "This is... Potter doesn't... This has got to stop."

"Well, go do something about it, then," Brice said.

"Why me?"

"Err... Cause you're a _Prefect_?"

"Oh. Right." Lily stood up, straightened her skirt in an awkward manner before heading over to the other table. "That's enough, Wilkes," she called long before she got there.

Peter shot Lily a grateful look, although James, probably feeling too humiliated by being saved by a girl, did not even dare to look up from the table. Wilkes on the other hand, seemed unimpressed. "Evans... Evans..." he said, smiling gleefully, "Didn't your mother teach you to stay out of matters that do not concern you?"

"I may not know what this is about, Wilkes," Lily countered coolly, "but I act on what I see. Now, Since I'm a Prefect, I get to say-"

"-So am I," Mulciber said, stepping up. "And I see nothing wrong with this. We're just having a little fun."

Lily exploded. "Fun?!"

"Evans," James suddenly said, speaking up for the first time. "Just leave it, you're only making matters-"

"-Potter, if you think but for a second this is about _you_, then you're very mistaken. What I _see_," she continued, shooting Mulciber a dirty look, "is a group of students disturbing the quiet and peace of the Library. And that is against the rules."

"_And that is against the rules,"_ Wilkes repeated in an annoying sing-song voice, making the other Slytherins burst out in laughter.

Mary and Brice had finished gathered their own and Lily's books and quills and had just reached them. "Gosh Wilkes," Mary said sweetly, "I already knew the size of your brains equals that of a Cornish Pixie, but I see you've finally managed to parrot what other people are saying. Congratulations!"

Wilkes looked ready to curse her brains out, but Mulciber roughly pushed him aside. "Woods, what a pleasant surprise! How are you feeling today - less waspish, I hope?"

This was the moment James jumped up from his seat. "Leave her alone, Mulciber! Or I'll..."

"Or what, Potter?"

James pulled out his wand so fast that it startled them all, including Lily, but she managed to push down his arm in time in the end. "Don't be stupid, Potter," she hissed before looking back to Wilkes. "Alright, a week's detention and seventy points from Slytherin for disturbing the peace in the Library. And you-," she said, turning to Mulciber.

"-I what?" he asked, smirking at her. "You cannot put a fellow Prefect in detention."

"You're right," she replied, nodding seriously. "But what I _can_ do, is warn your Head of House that you're not honouring the Prefect protocol. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. Come on," she said to Mary and Brice, before taking her bag from the latter and walking out out of the Library without another look at Mulciber and Wilkes, or James.

When they had finally caught up with at the other end of the corridor and started to head down the stairs together, Lily turned towards them. "This has got to stop," she said, her emerald eyes glinting dangerously. "We're gonna get our revenge. And we're going to do it tonight."

**- End of Part Two -**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** For some crazy reason I thought I had already finished this little story, but earlier this week I realized this wasn't the case, so.. Many apologies, but better later than never, right? Erm... You may wanna reread the first and/or second part, because it's taken me almost a year to get up the last segment.

**Dedication:** Everyone who's going to party this weekend. Happy Halloween everyone!

**Disclaimer:** Just the OC's, nothing else...

**Sweet Revenge (Part Three)**

"Ouch!"

"Shhh!"

"Careful now!"

"That is what my pinky toe would like to say!"

"Just be quiet or we'll get caught!"

Three Gryffindor girls, heading down a dark and faintly lit corridor in the middle of the night, relapsed in silence for a moment. Then, when they had just reached the corner, one of them snorted loudly. "Right, like that will ever happen."

An impatient sigh followed. "Brice, you know there is a lot at stake. We only get one chance at this and I certainly am not about to screw it up by walking into Filch."

Mary awkwardly cleared her throat. "Actually, I think Filch would be oblivious to our company if we were belly dancing right in front of him. Courtesy of an Invisibility Cloak, Lil." Her best friend made a huffing sound, which Mary took as silent consent and she tried to turn back to Brice in the narrowed space. "And we should thank you for that. I still don't know how you got James to borrow you his precious little cloak."

Brice shrugged. "Earlier this week I solved a Transfiguration assignment for him he was struggling with and agreed to not tell his friends about it."

Mary frowned. "Transfiguration? But that is his best subject."

"Yeah, to be honest I was wondering where his head was at. I finished it in about two minutes."

"Still, you got to borrow the Cloak in return. Did he ask why you needed it?"

"Is Dumbledore fond of lemon drops? It's James we're talking about. Of course he asked!"

"So what did you tell Potter?" Lily asked, deciding to join in the conversation after all.

"Tonight at dinner I mentioned it had something to do with a Hufflepuff guy with a cute bum in a tight cupboard on the fourth floor and," she paused deliberately before adding cheekily, "I made sure Black heard it too."

Mary giggled, thinking of Sirius's jealous personality. "How did Mr. Haughtiness take it?"

"Pretended he could not hear, but I saw him rolling his eyes when he thought I wasn't looking. Which, I reckon, is better than no response at all."

They were heading down the stairs of an even darker dungeon corridor that led to the Slytherin Common Room. So far there was no sign of Filch or any patrolling Professors, but Mrs. Norris was known to jump out of nowhere on occasion, so they were extra careful as they were slowly getting closer to their destination. When they had finally reached the tall dark green marble pillars across the Common Room entrance, Lily slowly exhaled audibly. "I cannot believe we actually made it."

"You can thank James for that in the morning," Mary noted shrewdly.

"How about just paying my respects to Brice instead?" Lily countered.

"Oooh lovely, I take both Chocolate Frogs and Sugarquills, thank you very much," Brice replied, grinning, before glancing at her watch. "Well... It's only a quarter to five. What's next?"

"Nothing," Lily said, taking out her wand and putting it down next to her on the floor, "We'll hang out here until Wilkes, Mulciber and Travers walk out."

Mary yawned noisily. "Why come out this early when it will take hours for them to emerge?"

"Because I have occasionally seen Wilkes go out for a morning run around the lake before breakfast. What if he goes again today? We cannot afford that prat getting off the hook."

"I guess that's true," Mary agreed, but Brice groaned in frustration and slowly slid down the pillar's wall.

"Wait another two hours? Man, I know I should have brought a crossword puzzle."

* * *

"I cannot believe we got all of them!"

All tiredness forgotten, Brice was positively breaming as the three of them headed down from their dormitory, where she had safely put the Cloak back into her trunk, to the Great Hall to get some breakfast themselves.

"I know, right?" Lily replied, her eyes twinkling mischievously. "They have no idea what's coming for them."

Mary, who was feeling giddy with excitement as well, already had trouble keeping the corners of her mouth from going up. Mulciber, Wilkes and Travers were in for a _very_ unpleasant surprise later today. If only they knew... "So Lil, how long exactly will it take for the spell to take effect?"

"A couple of hours, I think, but there was nothing about it in the book. I admit this is one thing I'm not one hundred percent sure about. However, we won't strike until dinner anyway, so I'm not worried."

They continued chatting happily about random things until they rounded a corner, where Professor Clearwater was waiting for them. "Miss Evans, Miss McDonald, could I have a moment of your time, please?"

Lily and Brice exchanged a brief, but worried glance, and excused themselves to follow their Professor to a nearby classroom. Mary, who was no longer taking Divination, frowned as she watched her friend's backs disappear through the door. Had they not been careful enough? Was Clearwater onto something? Realizing there was not much she could do about it at the moment, she turned to walk into the Great Hall. When she was passing the Slytherin table, her eyes almost immediately fell on the Slytherins she and her friends had hexed only half an hour ago. She could not help but pause, her eyes locking with Mulciber's, whose fake smile never matched his cold, narrowed eyes. With a slight churning of her stomach, she feared he was performing Legillimency on her. So far she had been unable to fully master Occlumency, and if he was trying to read her mind right this second... That would be disastrous, to say the least. Right when she was contemplating to pull out her wand in order to show him she knew what he was doing, someone placed a hand on the small of her back. "Woods, what're you doing?"

Mary turned and found herself staring into Sirius Black's grey eyes. "I-I eh... was just ehm-" She forced herself to pause while trying to restore her confidence. "Godric, what was I doing? Ehm, must be because it's still so damn early – I hate Mondays."

She faltered under Sirius's gaze, who seemed to be looking right through her and did not buy anything she had just said, and felt a blush creeping up her cheeks, but thankfully Remus also happened to be there to distract him.

"You really should avoid coming out here all by yourself, Mary," he said, cocking his head over to the Slytherin table. "You never know what those guys are up to next."

Mulciber was leaning towards Travers and the latter whispered something to him, making his eyes glint maliciously. Severus Snape, who was sitting right in between, looked slightly uncomfortable when Mulciber called out: "Oi Lupin, looking like a ghost again. Surely this wouldn't be the best time to lay the moves on a girl? Or... Unless Mudbloods dig sick and ghastly-looking fellows. I wouldn't know, I tend to avoid going near their kind."

Some Slytherins laughed, others were just watching the scene unfolding in front of them. Remus was staring at Mulciber and his friends while shaking his head, looking amused, but Sirius, hotheaded as ever, would not have any of it. "Shut it, Mulciber," he growled, which in a weird way was reminding Mary of a dog, "or I will shove those sausages on your plate in a place they will come flying out your nose so fast you won't know what hit you."

The students at the table seemed to be holding their breath. Mulciber however seemed unfazed and merely shot them his cold, intimating smile. "Tut-tut Black," he said, "you of all people should know better than to hang out with inferior people like them."

"Alright, that's it!" A furious Sirius was already reaching for his wand when both Remus and Mary intervened and held him back.

"Don't," she told him quietly, getting hold of his hand, before looking at the Professors table and realizing they were watching closely. She would not let Sirius ruin what she and the other girls had in store for Mulciber and his friends. She could wait, she would have her revenge later today.

After exchanging a glance with Remus, albeit for different reasons, they silently pulled Sirius along with them. When Wilkes shouted; "Yeah, you keep on walking, Black!" Mary could feel Sirius's muscles tense under the grip of her fingers. "One jinx, Moony. One Jelly-Legs Jinx is all I ask."

"Nope," Remus replied dryly.

Sirius was still fuming by the time they reached the Gryffindor table and joined James and Peter. "Those insufferable gits! I cannot understand why they got away with cursing Muggle-borns that easily."

"Actually, I heard Slughorn put them down for detention for the rest of the year," Remus pointed out while offering Mary a slice of toast.

"What happened?" Peter asked, watching them curiously.

"Nothing much, Wormtail," Sirius said cheerfully, back to his confident and cheeky self already while pouring himself a rich goblet of pumpkin juice. "Just saved fair Mary here from a second rendez-vous with festering Slytherins."

Mary arched an eyebrow. "Who was asking for a rescue operation? Not me."

Sirius winked. "Ah, it was worth a shot. Thought you might wanted to go on a date after I saved your life twice in a row."

"As if!"

He chuckled. "Your loss."

Mary looked at an unusual quiet James, who was moodily picking at his food with his wand and repeatedly making his orange peel do somersaults. Peter, following her gaze, shrugged. "He's been like that all morning. I practically had to feed him a scone. Earth to Prongs!" he said while elbowing his friend, "we've got company."

"Huh wha-?" James said, his mind slowly returning to the present. He blinked in confusion repeatedly before his eyes finally focused on Mary. "Where are Lily and Brice?"

Sirius snorted. "You just woke up and the _first_ thing you talk about is Evans? Man, you are far gone."

James rolled his eyes. "Bugger off, Padfoot."

"Clearwater needed them for something, although she wouldn't say what it was about," Mary explained, feeling her stomach muscles contract. They should have been back by now. Was Clearwater on to them after all?

To her relief, she spotted her friends entering the Hall at that very moment. "What did Clearwater want?" she asked as Lily sat down next to her. Her friend's expression was already somewhat soothing Mary's troubling thoughts.

"Reprimanding us for working together on an assignment we were supposed to be doing alone. She did not fail us, though, so we're fine."

"Brilliant," Mary nodded thoughtfully. "Well, that shows that I've been right about Clearwater all along."

"What are you talking about?"

"Basically proving this jar of pumpkin juice has better Seer abilities than that bloody old hag."

"Why would you say that, Mary?" Remus, who had been listening closely, asked.

Trying to ignore a warning glare from Lily, she grinned mischievously. "Let's just say it is my inner eye, telling me what is right and what is wrong in this world."

"Rrright," he responded, looking like he was having some trouble making her out.

But Mary did not care. She was far too relieved she had succeeded in fooling Remus and that Lily and Brice had not been caught by Clearwater, which meant their plan was still on. They were cursing Mulciber, Wilkes and Travers, and they were going to do it tonight. Heaving a satisfied sigh, Mary reached for a pot of coffee and joined in on the conversation about how Gryffindor was going to win back the Quidditch Cup next year.

* * *

Mary had trouble concentrating on her afternoon classes and could hardly focus on her Herbology paper in the Common Room later on as well. She noticed Brice and Lily were out of it as well, and wondered if they were just anxious to find out if their plan worked out or that they were also dreading the possible consequences. Putting those Slytherins on an embarrassing display in the Great Hall (in the presence of all the Professors) was a bold move, but they had agreed they would need the biggest audience possible.

In the afternoon Mary, who was too nervous to finish the essay anyway, joined Lily in visiting Hagrid, whose Crup Lizzy had just given birth to a nest of five youngsters. The fur was still fully covering their little backs, so only a small amount of their forked tails was peeping out. If possible, this made them even more cute and Mary and Lily stayed at Hagrid's place as long as they could.

They met up with Brice, who had just got back from her Ancient Runes class, in front of the Great Hall. The girls had made sure to get down early so they could await the arrival of their enemies, as well as be able to strategically sit at specific corners so their classmates would not immediately find out what they were up to. They sat down side by side, Lily on the left, Brice in the middle and Mary on the far right, and held their wands at the ready. "Remember," Lily whispered while Brice was pouring them each a goblet of mineral water, "the incantation is [i]Apsconditavi Feminea[/i]. Say it once and do the rest of the spell-casting non-verbally. This should be easy."

"Says who?" Mary asked, seriously doubting her ability to cast spells non-verbally.

"The book where I found the spell. Don't worry, Mare," Lily said, reading her mind. "It'll be fine."

By that time the Marauders had joined them at the table. "Having a secret meeting, I see," Sirius said before noticing she had her gaze fixed on the Great Hall entrance. "What's that you're staring at?"

"None of your business, Black," Lily replied coolly. She leaned back so she could poke Mary. "Pssht!"

"What?"

"You're in the best position right now to watch the doors without looking suspicious. Just poke us when they appear so I can provide a distraction and no one will notice we're the ones casting the spell."

"Okay."

Lily grinned, her green eyes lighting up with mischief. "Let's do this."

Mary grinned back. "This is gonna be great."

She kept an eye on the Great Hall entrance while eating her stew without really tasting it. Not much later, at least sooner than her nervous self would have liked, the Slytherins walked through the door. Mary elbowed Brice, who just sipped her drink, choked on it and started coughing, unintentionally alerting Lily it was time. From the corner of her eye, Mary could see her friend holding out her wand under the table and pointing it at James, sitting at the other side. She cast some kind of spell Mary did not recognize, but it turned James's eyes glassy, made him lift his plate, which was still loaded with stew and mashed potatoes, and plant it right into Peter's face.

In the brief chaos that followed – Peter was spluttering for air while James stared down at his hands, looking astonished, and the other surrounding students burst out in laughter (Sirius was laughing the loudest of all) – the girls quickly pointed their wands at the Slytherin table (their magic would only affect those who had been previously cursed) and prepared themselves.

They had divided the guys earlier: Lily was cursing Wilkes, Brice had chosen to focus on Travers and Mary would take care of Mulciber. Right when James was telling Peter he had no idea what had made him throw his dinner in his friend's face, Mary focused on Mulciber, who was just getting to his feet to get an even better view, and whispered: "_Apsconditavi Feminea_." She heard Lily and Brice mutter the incantation as well and from that very moment, there was no way back.

Not that Mary would ever forget nor regret the scene unfolding next. Now that they activated the curse with their spell, all they had to do was simply imagining their victims in embarrassing outfits or holding silly objects and it would happen, without any of the guys' knowledge. Mary watched Mulciber's robes disappear in front of her eyes, displaying a ridiculously-looking pair of black boxers with little pink Pygmy Puffs (Mary did not have anything to do with that) and, realizing he was still holding a goblet, she transformed it into a Flobberworm. Meanwhile, Lily had given Wilkes a new hairdo by turning his mousy blonde hair into cascading golden curls and was making him wear bright pink stiletto heels, while Brice had added a lilac tutu to Travers' already imposing mid-section.

The Great Hall, students and professors alike, who up to that point had been watching the Marauders, turned towards the Slytherin table as one. Students started whispering frantically and pointed at Wilkes and his friends. Even the other Slytherin students appeared amused. Alison Zabini in particular, who had stared at Mulciber's boxers in sheer disbelief at first, was laughing so hard she would have tumbled backward from the bench if it would not have been for a friend pulling her back.

Wilkes and Travers had walked up Mulciber by now, looking confused as they were standing right between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw table. They had no clue what was going on and why everyone was laughing at them. Travers pointed to a young blonde girl at the end of the Slytherin table, who Mary thought was probably a first-year. "Fiona!" he barked furiously. "What is going on?"

The young girl may have been small, but she certainly did not appear intimidated by a senior Slytherin like Travers approaching her. On the contrary, she was giggling. "I never knew you were into ballet, cousin. Do uncle and auntie Travers know about this?"

"Balle- _what_?"

At their end of the Hall, Mary exchanged a look with Lily and Brice and silently agreed it was time for round two. Before casting another spell, Mary dared to shoot a look at the Marauders, who were all attentively observing the spectacle. Sirius and Remus were beaming like Christmas had come early and James looked happier than he had done in days. Even Peter had momentarily ceased trying to wipe James's dinner from his eyes and was watching the scene with his mouth hanging wide open.

Feeling her confidence grow, Mary turned back to Mulciber and – inspired by Lily who had just added a mauve leather handbag and fluffy boa to Wilkes' outfit, she decided to put Mulciber back in some clothes. With a single flash of her mind, Mulciber was suddenly wearing a pair of robes completely identical to those Professor Clearwater had been wearing earlier that week. Clearwater was known for her extraordinary flamboyant dress sense, and Mary had pictured Mulciber in her most fluorescent purple and yellow robes, including a colour-changing turban. This transformation brought on a fresh wave of laughter from the crowd, and the injustice of not knowing what was happening angered Mulciber even more. "What?" he yelled. "Shut up! Just SHUT up!"

Lily had just put make up (fluorescent 80's style) on Wilkes when Brice transformed Travers' tutu into a cute peacock-outfit. Unfortunately, none of them had been watching the Professor's table and failed to notice McGonagall approachring the tormented Slytherins. Their Transfiguration Professor waved her wand around the same time Brice's spell hit Travers, making – besides instantly dressing him up as a peacock – a real peacock jumped out of the feathery tail, which everyone, including Mulciber, Travers and Wilkes, could see. The animal, making loud and panicky sounds, scurried around the Great Hall for a moment before McGonagall made it disappear with a single wave of her wand. Another wave put Mulciber, Wilkes and Travers back in their ordinary school robes. For a moment, McGonagall stared down at her wand like she was intently listening to what it was trying to tell her.

Silence.

Ar first no one did or say anything, but then, like a flock of fast approaching bees, students started to whisper frantically. Some of them had started laughing again as well, but they all turned dead silent when McGonagall abruptly turned and headed straight to their side of the Gryffindor table. Mary's stomach flipped upside down, but at first it seemed like their Head of House was approaching the Marauders. James certainly seemed to think so. "Professor!" he called before McGonagall had even reached them, "I _swear_ I had nothing to d-"

"-Don't bother Potter, it's not you I want to have a talk with."

McGonagall stopped in front of the girls, who – at least Mary was trying really hard – gazed up at her innocently. "Miss McDonald, to my office. Now."

Mary and Lily both looked sideways at their friend, genuinely shocked, but Brice never looked back. Instead, she calmly rose from her seat with her wand at her side and followed McGonagall out of the Great Hall. Immediately, the crowd went back to discussing loudly what they had just witnessed. Brice's name was called more than once, and even the Marauders seemed impressed. "That was the most ingenious spell-casting I've ever seen," Remus said, looking stunned.

"I know, right?" All former mood swings forgotten, James was back to his bright and confident-self. "I thought I'd about die when I saw Travers looking like a peacock."

Peter laughed. "Personally, I thought those heels and boa looked really good on Wilkes."

"Well, of course you would, Wormtail," James sniggered. "You always had a thing for girls in pink."

"I never knew Brice was such a powerful witch," a dumbstruck Sirius, who appeared to have been miles away with his thoughts, suddenly said and turned to Lily and Mary. "Did you see that?"

"Er... Yes," Lily replied after a pause, unable to prevent her cheeks from reddening fast. "Some incredibly powerful magic there, I'd say. Mare?" Her friend poked her hard in the ribs.

"Ooof. Yeah, definitely." Mary got up from the bench. "We should go."

"Oh, you girls are heading back to the Common Room already?" James asked when Lily had also left her seat and the girls were about to head out. "We should join you."

"Just so you know, Prongs," Remus said, clearing his throat, "It's treacle tart for desert tonight. Do you really want to miss out on that?"

James considered this for a moment. "No. No, I don't."

Lily, sensing Remus may have known more than he was showing, shot him a grateful look before pulling Mary along by the arm and heading out of the Great Hall. As soon as they passed the doors and made sure they were out of earshot from curious bystanders, Mary said: "We need to go to McGonagall's office _now_ and tell the truth."

She expected Lily to agree full-heartedly and follow her, but her best friend hesitated. "What are you waiting for? Brice needs us. Let's go!"

Still Lily did not move. "Unless..."

"What?"

"Unless she doesn't _want_ us to come clean."

Mary stared at Lily, clearly not following her. "Come again?"

Her friend was biting her lip. "I... I just have a feeling that if Brice wanted us to come, she would have told McGonagall by now."

"Did she say anything to you?"

"No, not really. But knowing her, she'd rather die before selling us out. And... Well, considering what happened at the end with that peacock appearance, McGonagall only picked up that magic because they both cast a spell at the same time."

Mary leaned back against a pillar, fidgeting with the sleeve of her robes. "I don't know, Lil. It seems wrong to have her punished for something we did together."

Lily grinned. "Well, you saw how the other students looked at her when she walked out of the Great Hall, right? People will love her for pranking Slytherin the way we did."

Mary was still unconvinced and her friend lightly touched her arm. "I know what you're thinking, Mare. And I agree, if there's a chance of Brice getting suspended or expelled, we'll go and tell the Professors. But until then, I suggest we just wait."

* * *

Another few hours went by before Brice finally returned to the Common Room. Mary and Lily were curled up in the armchairs near the fire. They pretending to be working on the Herbology paper together, but in reality were just discussing what was the best thing to do. Although Mary had reluctantly agreed to not head straight to McGonagall's office and confess, part of her still felt they were doing the wrong thing. Eventually Lily offered that in the likely case Brice would get a detention, they would try helping her in every possible way, which put Mary's conscience a little at ease. Nevertheless, she kept staring at the portrait hole the entire time instead of focusing on her essay.

When Brice finally showed up, she first had to work her way through a crowd of excited Gryffindors. Every single one of them, including the Marauders, tried to get close to and congratulate her on getting back at the Slytherins in the most fabulous way. Mary saw Sirius roughy pushing a couple of two-years aside so he could wrap an arm around her waist. He leaned in and whispered something in her ear. Mary was unable to tell what he said, and was subconsciously even less sure if she liked what she was seeing, but it was making Brice beam even more. It took their friend another fifteen minutes to reach them, but when the rest of the Gryffindors finally allowed her to flop down on one of remaining armchairs, she tied up her blonde hair in a ponytail before saying: "So... You guys didn't show at McGonagall's office at all."

Mary sat up straight. "I'm so sorry, Brice. I _knew_ we should have-"

"-Good," she interrupted. "I'm glad you didn't. Did you see how impressed everyone is? They're looking at me like I'm a new type of wonder: I heard someone calling me the witch of wonders. Can you believe that?"

"What, so Lily was right about us not seeing McGonagall?"

Brice looked at Lily. "You knew?"

Lily shrugged. "I had a hunch," she said, looking modest.

Brice laughed. "Nice one, I'm impressed."

"So how did it go with McGonagall?" she asked.

"The usual stuff. There was some scolding for disregarding the rules, dangerous spell-casting and not to forget publicly embarrassing other Hogwarts students. But then..." She started grinning again, "_then_ she practically praised me for standing up for my friend the way I did, besides mentioning the impressive amount of spells I managed to cast simultaneously."

Lily snorted. "I bet."

"You know," Brice continued thoughtfully, "it was almost like McGonagall knew if I was not alone in this, but she would not say anything about it."

"So you're not getting expelled?" Mary asked.

Brice laughed. "Merlin no! She just gave me six weeks of detention with Slughorn, which probably means scrubbing used cauldrons or something silly like that."

"We'll be right there helping you out with that, of course," Mary replied, who was finally able to feel a little proud of what they had accomplished today.

"Don't bother. It will be a small price to pay to have seen Wilkes walking around in pink stiletto's."

Lily burst out laughing. "And how about Mulciber and his Pygmy Puff underwear? Mare, you naughty girl!"

Mary's cheeks turned crimson. "I [i]swear[/i] that was not me."

"You mean he wore those by his own choice?"

All of them had started laughing by now and they quietly continued discussing the highlights of their successful prank. They had done what Mary never thought to be possible in the first place: publicly embarrassing at their arch enemies Wilkes, Travers and Mulciber with a complicated spell and (mostly) getting away with it. If anything, that was something to be truly proud of.

And she wasn't alone in that. It was well after midnight when they decided it was time to go to bed. The only other Gryffindors left in the Common Room were James and Sirius and a couple of seventh-years. Mary was just about to follow Lily and Brice up the stairs of the girls dormitory when she heard Sirius calling her name. "I guess you were right about not needing to be saved."

Mary looked down on him from the top of the stairs. "What makes you say that?"

He cleared his throat. "With friends who have got your back like that, who needs chivalry?"

Mary thought about Lily and Brice and their determination to get back at Slytherin for attacking her and for the very first time that night, she genuinely smiled. "Chivalry? As far as I'm concerned, chivalry is dead."

**-The End -**


End file.
